Gor Mahia are mathematically out of the CAF Champions League after relegation threatened Western Stima handed them a severe blow to their resurging title hope following a 1-2 loss in a Football Kenya Federation Premier League (FKFPL) clash staged at the Thika Stadium.CAF is yet to revise their earlier communication, handing federation across the continent a June 30th deadline to submit teams that will represent the country in the Africa’s premier club competition, with Gor Mahia only left with one game.Gor Mahia arrived into the clash in search of three crucial points after seeing their 12-game winning streak halted by Wazito FC last time and failed to whittle Tusker’s lead at the summit of the table who were the log leaders entering in to the weekend with KCB set to play Kakamega Homeboyz in Nakuru.Western Stima were flirting with relegation after dropping into the red zone after registering a string of torrid results that has seen them go five games without a win and lost their home advantage after the government banned sporting activities in 13 Western counties including Kisumu.Stima were on the ascendancy on the on set buoyed by a surprise team talk from Tusker FC head coach Robert Matano after using the Ruaraka Ground as their training base and took the lead in the fourth minute courtesy of a well worked corner straight from the training ground.Former Gor Mahia midfield Baron Oketch intelligence came into play as he whipped in a low pass to the edge of the penalty area that found Rodgers Ouma who has been the shinning light in an otherwise dark season for Stima and met the ball cleanly to fire a thunderbolt that rippled the back of the net for a surprise early lead.The goal woke Gor Mahia from their slumber as they almost restored parity in the 13th minute when Sydney Ochieng threaded in a neat through ball to Karim Abdoul who turned Mukisha Junior inside out but he could not keep his shot down as it sailed over the bar.Karim who was a thorn in the flesh to the Stima defense was denied a goal in the 29th minute by a brilliant save from Stephen Otieno after receiving the ball from John Macharia and his smart touch took off two defender off the ball leaving him only the keeper to beat.Gor Mahia seemed to be wilting under the strain of a hectic schedule as they squandered two glorious opportunities before the break with the first coming in bizarre circumstances when Philemon Otieno delivered a cross that was punched by the keeper who rushed to collect the ball but he was off his line with the referee calling for a free kick at the edge of the penalty area which Kenneth Muguna released a tame effort that was comfortable saved.Karim created another chance in added minutes of the first half as he worked his was to the by line before feeding Sydney Ochieng with a cut back cross but the former Tusker FC midfielder failed to guide his effort on target.Manuel Vaz Pinto rang a change at half time as he took off Sydney who had a muted performance and introduced Clifton Miheso who was surprisingly left in the bench after having an off colour game against Wazito.Stima were handed a blow five minutes into the second half when goalscorer Rodgers Ouma was handed a red card after a two yellow cards in quick succession first for failing to give Wendo space to take his quick free kick and was then sent off for foul language towards the referee.Stima defied the odds once again as the won a penalty in the 57th minute when Frank Odhiambo brought down Baron Oketch with Michael Karamor stepping up to take the penalty and held his nerve to nonchalantly slot the ball in the middle of goal.After putting Stima under the cosh, the Abdalla Juma’s charges finally cracked under pressure in the 82nd minute when Clifton Miheso whipped in a cross that evaded everyone and found Geoffrey Ochieng who headed in the ball despite efforts from Stephen Otieno to keep the ball out.Stima however held on for the win to secure three vital points to move out the relegation zone.Gor Mahia head coach Manuel Vaz Pinto rued missed chances in his post match comments and explained why he started with Clifton Miheso from the bench.”We concede two goals from our mistakes one is from a corner and we had one player to cover the space but we lost a little focus and the second one is the same, it come from a penalty but that sometimes happens in football we created a lot and we could have scored five or six goals.I bench Miheso because in the las 40 days he has played 14 matches, you need the team to be fresh a little bit and I don’t say that because we lost, I say that because we have played a number of games in a short span,” said Pinto.His counterpart Abdalla Juma was delighted with the win but was left unimpressed with the red card handed to Rodgers Ouma.”I’m happy with the result today the boys gave their all and we played better than Gor Mahia throughout the 90 minutes, we did a good job to defend with 10 player on the pitch against a team like that to secure three vital points,””The red card was a bit of a surprise we are still not sure what it was for because the referee says that he had another yellow card and we cannot argue against that, the most important thing is to calm down and focus on the next result,” said Juma.
